Six Months Later
It’s a week after Bethany Day’s performance debut at the biggest music awards show of the year, and she was a massive hit. Despite all of the on-stage antics, and the outlandish outfits, and random slap-fight in the audience during a commercial break, all anyone could talk about the next day was the new singer with the gorgeous voice and the bright pink hair. Pre-orders for her album were through the roof in an era where no one bought albums anymore, and listens to her debut single on streaming services had already broken records. Things were going even better for Bethany than Zachary or I could have ever dreamed.
It’s the perfect precursor to our wedding day.
Barely a month after we got back from Turks & Caicos, Zachary took me out for dinner, and instead, we ended up in Seattle. I had mentioned a few times how I had never been and had always wanted to go, and suddenly, we were on his private plane headed to the Pacific Northwest for a meal. We walked around Pike Place Market, had coffee and ate pastries on the water front, and then he took me to the top of the Space Needle for dinner. When dessert came, he got down on one knee, and gave me the most perfect teardrop diamond ring. After I basically passed out for a second, I threw my arms around him and said, of course, yes.
We were going to wait to get married until after I finished law school since I was already in my third year. But the more we talked about it, the more excited we got at just being married. So, we planned our wedding for Christmas Eve and decided to have it in New York City, because we both loved it there it so much.
The planning hadn’t been terribly complicated, since I didn’t have much family, and neither did Zachary or Donovan. It was easy enough to get everyone together, and Zachary even paid to fly Liza out so she could be my Maid of Honor. The wedding was going to be held outside of Belvedere Castle in Central Park, one of the most gorgeous places in the city. The flowers were delivered, the chairs were set up…
And then it snowed. Everyone scrambled to figure out what to do, trying to decide if we should just move to another location. But in the end, Zachary convinced them to let us inside the Castle so we could have the ceremony there, even though we hadn’t booked. Between his charm and his checkbook, he had the wedding moved into the castle before I’d even had a chance to pick up my dress.
So now I am standing here, in the dressing room of this beautiful castle, and Liza is fitting me into my designer, fairy-like wedding dress. My best friend is adjusting the hem of my skirt and fussing over the belt at my waist.
“Are you going to tell him?” she asks smiling up at me. I shoo her away.
“I’ll tell him. Soon.”
Liza rolls her eyes. “You should tell him.”
A knock on the door interrupts my withering eye roll. “Go answer that before I pop you upside the head.”
Liza skips over to see who is knocking, but shouts first, “No future husbands allowed! It’s bad luck!”
“No future husbands here,” Bethany shouts back through the door, “Just future Hot 100 stars!”
Liza laughs and opens the door to let Bethany in. “More like Number ONE Hot 100 stars!”
Bethany and Liza hug, and it makes me delighted that they’ve gotten to be such good friends too. Bethany really needed friends when we got back from Turks & Caicos, as even with the excitement of getting signed, the Professor Sam situation hit her hard. Liza and I had started hanging out with Bethany, keeping her company, and going with her places when she needed moral support. It had really helped, and she’d been doing better every day. I am thrilled to see her so happy today.
Bethany gives me a curious look, then scans me up and down. She shakes her head thoughtfully, before putting her hand on her chin. I throw my hands in the air.
“What? What is the problem?”
“Are you going to tell him?” Bethany asks, her eyebrow raised.
“What is with you guys? I’ll tell him when I tell him” I say as I sweep my hair back into a loose bun.
“Whatever you say, princess. So, still planning on taking the bar early?” Bethany asks as she plops down in the chair across the room.
“Right after graduation! Already signed up. Ladies, looking at the clock, I see it’s about that time. Bethany, shouldn’t you be in position?”
Bethany jumps back up and sighs. “A performer’s work is never done! I’ll see you out there, sports fans!”
She disappears in a flash of pink hair and lavender fabric, leaving Liza and me to start for the room where my wedding party is waiting for me. Liza gives me a huge smile.
“Are you ready, Roy?”
I laugh as she references one of our favorite films. “I was born ready!” I respond in kind. We make our way down to the hall, and while the doors are closed, I can hear Bethany start singing my favorite jazz standard inside. With no one to walk me down the aisle, Liza has agreed to take my arm and help me get there without tripping over my own feet. Two stewards open the double-doors, revealing the gorgeous candlelit room inside. Old-fashioned torches and bright red roses line the aisle, and at the end, stands Zachary.
I’ve never seen him look so handsome in all of the time I’ve known him. His thick hair is slicked back, his beard grown out just a little, the way I like it best. He’s wearing a black, three-piece suit, with a bright white shirt and a tie that matches the pale blue of my dress. He also has on his glasses, which only amplifies how wide his eyes go when he catches the side of me. Donovan gives him a gentle chuck on the shoulder and a smile as all of the wedding guests get to their feet.
Liza and I start walking down the aisle, and I lock eyes with Bethany, who is singing her heart out. I can see she is tearing up a little, and I start to too, but then I remind myself that I have a ton of eye makeup on and need to keep it at least a little bit together. As we inch our way to the front of the room, everyone “oohs” and “aahs” at me, but all I can see is Zachary, bathed in candlelight with the softly-falling snow in the window behind him. I think I can even hear the beating of his heart over the din of the room.
Or maybe it’s just the sound of my own.
When we get to where Zachary and Donovan are waiting, Bethany wraps up her song with a flourish, and the minister steps forward. With a respectful nod, he says, “Who gives this woman away?”
Liza scoffs. “No one! She gives herself away. What is this? The Dark Ages?”
The room erupts in laughter and the minister bristles. “Of course. Apologies. Will everyone please be seated?”
Liza reluctantly steps to my side, and Zachary and I stand in front of the minister, impatiently waiting to take our vows. The minister droned on and on, despite the fact we told him to keep the ceremony brief. I think I’m going to erupt into giggles for no reason when Zachary leans over and whispers in my ear, “We still have time to elope to Vegas.”
I giggle audibly this time, and the minister shoots me a dirty look. I scowl back at him and think, Well, now is as good a time as any.
I lean over to Zachary and whisper in his ear, “I’m pregnant.”
Zachary spins all the way around on his heel and shouts, “What?” at the top of his lungs. The minister starts shushing us, visibly annoyed. But Zach clearly doesn’t care. I just nod at him, trying not to make the minister angrier. Instead, Zachary picks me up and spins me in a circle, kissing me over and over again. The minister starts shouting at us.
“Hey! Hey! Stop that! This isn’t the time for that!”
Zachary keeps kissing me anyway, then turns to the guests. “It’s exactly the time for it! We’re having a baby!”
Our friends erupt into applause, and Donovan slaps Zachary on the back. Bethany and Liza just laugh because they both guessed a while ago and had been keeping the secret against their will. Behind us, the minister throws up his arms.
“Oh, sod it. Do you take Ava Audrey Webber to be your wife?”
Zachary grins. “You bet I do.”
“And do you Ava Audrey Webber take Zachary Joel Webber to be your husband?”
“I sure do,” I say with a wink.
We don’t hear the minister say anything else before Zachary sweeps me up into his arms and envelops me, as we disappear into our first kiss as husband and wife. With Zachary in my arms and our baby on the way, I know that life is about to be better than I ever imagined when I began this beautiful deception…
The End